Knight
Josh Paugh }} "The knight is the toughest warrior of all time. They had honor, but they were killers." -David Coretti, Army veteran/Sword expert The Knight, sword-wielding slayer of the Medieval age; Vs. the Pirate, murderous killer of the high seas. Stats *Year - 1423 *Height - 5' 11" *Weight - 180 lbs *Armor - Plate *Gear - 70 lbs *Loyalty - Kingdom of France *Symbol - Knight's helmet History A knight was a member of the warrior class of the Middle Ages in Europe who followed a code of law called "chivalry". In other Indo-European languages, cognates of cavaliers or riders are more prevalent (e.g. French chevalier and German Ritter), suggesting a connection to the knight's mode of transport. Since antiquity a position of honor and prestige has been held by mounted warriors, such as the Greeks and the Romans, and knighthood in the Middle Ages was inextricably linked with horsemanship. Plate armor for Knights were used in circa 1250 and grew in popularity in the 1400s. If they had the money, Knights would normally wear Plate instead of the previous armor, mail. Many Knights used both Plate Armor combined with mail armor (especially for their joins like Coifs for the neck. Knights earned their legendary reputation as warriors during the Crusades for the "Holy Lands." They believed that they were on a divine mission from God himself to retake the "Holy Lands" from the current Muslim occupants. The First Crusade Lasting 1096–1099 AD; the First Crusade was overall a success in retaking the Holy Lands, however this war also was highly controversial for its hypocritical brutality. Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos was facing pressure from the growing Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm; which was rebuilding the Persian Empire. Pope Urban II at this same time was facing division in the church; with an 'anti-Pope' Clement III claiming to be the right Pope of the Catholics. Urban II saw the Seljuks as an opportunity to unity Christians under all sects and to confirm his position as the true Pope by retaking the Holy Lands. Urban II declared Plenary Indulgence (a blessing to guarantee passage into Heaven, regardless of past sins) to anyone who would join the Crusades. While many warriors and Knights did join; many unskilled peasants (including women, children, elderly, criminals and the insane) joined as well. People's Crusade Peter the Hermit preached to the masses across Europe (beginning in France) and collected a peasant army known as the People's Crusade. Similar clerics rallied other armies as well. However the peasant crusaders began raiding and attacking European kingdoms (especially Hungary) as their logistics were so poor that they were already starving on their march east-ward. Emicho of Leiningen infamously massacred Jewish populations across Germany, and other Crusader factions would continue similar massacres despite Urban II directly denouncing such actions. Peter's People's Crusade invaded Turkish territory. They pillaged and massacred both Christian and Muslim towns alike and dissolved into chaos. The Turkish forces crushed the unskilled and disorganized peasants with a successful ambush and encirclement; with only 3,000 out of 40,000 of the Crusaders surviving. The People's Crusade was a complete disaster; with 10,000s of European soldiers and civilians dying while Turkish causalities were at a minimum. Knights of France The army of the First Crusade was led under 7 different factions each led by a knight; *Hugh I of Vermandois; who was the brother of a French King. *Godfrey of Bouillon; leading a massive German army. **Godfrey's brother, Baldwin I, also joined. *Bohemond of Taranto; the clever yet deceptive leader who led some of the most experienced and elite Knights in Europe. **Bohemond's nephew, Tancred, also joined. *Raymond IV of Toulouse; leading the largest of the armies. He was the only Knight to swear no oath to the Byzantines. **Raymond also affiliated himself with Adhemar of Le Puy; a Bishop personally appointed by the Pope to assist the leaders. *Robert of Flanders; who has the strongest alliance with the Byzantines. *Peter the Great also joined this crusade with the remains of his Peasant army. *Byzantine forces under Alexios I Komnenos When the Crusaders invaded Turkey, the Turks initially ignored the army; assuming that this force was another wave of unskilled peasants like from the Peasant's Crusade. The Siege of Nicaea was successful primarily because of this; the Turks unable to send a sizable army in time to end the siege. With naval support; Nicaea was completely surrounded and surrendered to the Byzantines. The 1097 Battle of Dorylaeum was a celebrated battle due to the discipline of the Knights under Bohemond; who held their lines for 7 hours to defend themselves against arrow fire. The Knights were too slow to fight the horse-archers, but the other Crusaders reinforcements arrived to push the Turks back. The leaders of the Crusades began rivalries against each other; which led to infighting over the conquered territories. Baldwin I was the most infamous example of this; attempting to use his larger army to extort territory from Tancred. The Second Crusade The Third Crusade The Fourth Crusade https://youtu.be/SpVEkH14Jrc Post-Medieval Knights Even today, people can still be knighted by European royalty, but this is more of a symbol of honor and respect and most Knights today did not engage in warfare. Plate armored Knights existed until the invention of the Musket, which allowed common and cheap foot soldiers to easily kill a trained and expensive Knight with a long ranged weapon. Weapons Deadliest Warrior: The Game *Close Range: Broadsword, Mace *Mid Range: Poleaxe, Halberd *Long Range: Light Crossbow, Heavy Crossbow *Special Weapons: Morningstar *Armor: Maximillian Fullplate, Coat of Plates Battle The battle begins with a Pirate discovering a dusty treasure chest in the middle of the forest. In the distance, the Knight comes riding in on his horse. The Pirate opens the chest and begins counting the gold doubloons inside, but hears the horse coming towards him. He looks up and sees the Knight with his Morningstar in hand. Thinking that he is trying to steal his treasure, the Pirate pulls out one of his Flintlock pistols. The Knight begins swinging his Morningstar and signals his horse to charge at the Pirate. The Pirate aims his pistol and fires, but the bullet was deflected off the Knight's Plate. He pulls out another pistol and fires a second time, but the bullet bounces off of the Knight's Helmet. The Knight's horse dashes at the Pirate, and the Knight successfully hits him with the Morningstar. The Pirate gets up and desperately scrambles for the Grenado in his pocket. The horse turns around and begins to charge at the Pirate again. However, the Pirate manages to light the fuse on the Grenado and throws it at the Knight. The explosion knocks the Knight off his horse. The Pirate slowly approaches the Knight, thinking that he is dead. The Knight sits up and shoots his Crossbow at the Pirate, hitting his leg. The pirate grimaces in pain and tries to pull the arrow out, while the Knight gets up and hits him with the Morningstar again and throws him to the floor. However, the Pirate pulls out his Blunderbuss as he hits the floor and shoots the Knight in the chestplate, sending him flying back. The Pirate then grabs his treasure chest and tries to run away, once again unaware that he still hasn't killed the Knight. The Pirate reaches the shore and sees his ship in the distance. He turns around and is annoyed to see that the Knight, though injured, is still following him. "Oh, bloody hell," he groans. He runs ahead to put down his treasure, then turns around and fires his third Flintlock pistol. The bullet hits the Knight, but he shakes it off and runs towards the knight with his Broadsword in hand. The Pirate pulls out his Cutlass sword and engages in a sword fight with the Knight. The two get their swords stuck in the sand, and the Knight uses this opportunity to kick the Pirate to the ground. He pulls out his Broadsword and tries to strike the Pirate, but the Pirate manages to roll out of the way. He backs himself up towards the bottom of a cliff, while the Knight slowly trudges towards him.The Knight swings his sword, but the Pirate parries with his sword and then kicks the Knight to the floor. The Knight gets back up and clumsily swings at the Pirate, who effortlessly dodges the sword. The Pirate then throws sand at the Knight's helmet, distracting him long enough to charge at him and throw him to the floor. As the Knight tries to regain consciousness, the Pirate runs to his fourth Flintlock pistol, which fell out of his pocket earlier on, and grabs it. He returns to the knight, who is still on the floor, and opens the medieval helmet's visor. He shoves the pistol at the Knight's face and fires at point-blank range, killing him instantly. The Pirate gets up and roars in victory. Expert's Opinion The Experts agreed that the Knight's defeat was due to the Pirate's blunderbuss and grenado. While the Knight had superior training, armor, and weapons, it was all trumped by the lethal and instant killing power of the Grenado and Blunderbuss. While it had a tendency to jam, the Blunderbuss' easily penetrated the Knight's armor and killed him easily, the exact reason armor became obsolete after the discovery of guns. The Knight was a victim of his time rather than his skill, and due to the Pirate's gunpowder weapons, literally, "brought a knife to a gunfight," in this case. Trivia *While not mentioned on the show, technically knights have been featured multiple times on the show. William Wallace was formerly a Scottish knight and nobleman, and William the Conqueror was also knighted. Vlad the Impaler would also have been a knight or at least had a knight's training. *The Knight, has so far, the heaviest armor in the show at 70lb. *Knights have existed in most European countries, but the one specifically used on the show is the French Knight. It's most likely because France was famous for their exceptional knights and was a superpower in Europe during the middle ages. *They reappear in season 3 as Joan of Arc's troops against William the Conqueror, but with different weapons and without their visors on. *In real life knights became extinct after being killed off by musketeers. Musketeers were seen as cowardly at first. Knights have attempted to adapt by reinforcing their armor to stop musket fire but eventually died out because any armor that was affordable and light enough for combat couldn't fully stop rounds from a Musket. Other theories why the Medieval Knight disappeared from the battlefield includes economic reasons and social shifts. *Russian knights are called Bogatyr. *Not all Knights rode horses, but all Chevaliers were horsemen Knights. Before Chivalry began, what would be considered a Knight in early Medieval Europe was simply anyone who was a horseman. *There is no single mentality of what Chivalry was. Chivalry could indeed be about justice and nobility, faith and loyalty or war and brutality. Every European nation and even every individual Kingdom or Lordship had their own definition of a warrior code, constantly changing depending on the politics and culture of the times. Many codes clearly contradicted other codes. Some forms of Chivalry were brutal enough to allow warcrimes; including mass rape and execution. It was very common for Knights to ignore their Chivarious code, even if some did intend to follow them strictly. *Members of the Knights Templar swore an oath to never use profanity under any condition, permanent chasity, and never to bathe. **The Templar's flag was a plain white banner with the latin black text "Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam." or translated to "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to thy name give the glory." **Knights who survived a battle that was lost became exiled as punishment; sometimes only a year, sometimes permanently. *Jacques Bernard de Molay, the last member of the Knights Templar, declared before his execution; "Pope Clement, hear me! Before this year is out, you will answer for your crimes before God almighty." Indeed Pope Clement died shortly afterwards. *One of the reasons European Knights had the heaviest armor of their time was due to other regions of the world were relatively warmer than Europe. Heavy armor made warriors overheat easily, so it was only practical in cooler climates. *The colors of a Knight was unique to the Knight itself. Only until the renaissance would European nations have standardized colors. *Poland was one of the few nations relatively unaffected by the Black Death. *During the Middle Ages; scientific discoveries created by non-Europeans (especially Arabs) were strictly outlawed or discouraged. The concept of the number 0 for example was seen as a demonic creation. *Knecht means servant, in a manner similar to the word 'Samurai'. This word eventually evolved into the word 'Knight'. *The helm worn by the Knight in the episode is called a Bascinet. *Other facts about Knights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d2e08Z01Jw In Deadliest Warrior: The Game *Class: Champion *Weapons: **Close-Range: Broadsword/Mace **Medium-Range: Halberd/Pole Axe **Long-Range:Light Crossbow/Heavy crossbow **Special Weapon: Morningstar **Shield *Armor:Maximillian Armor/Coat of plates *Finisher: The Knight hits the victim in the side with his morning star, then brings it back down on top of their head, killing them. He pulls out his short range weapon and stands over his dead adversary, denouncing the enemy. * In skirmish mode if one has more than two characters on the enemy team and uses the special finisher on the enemy before he dies, you can cause a glitch by skipping the scene animation right when the morning star hits the 2nd time. In which will cause the weapons and shields to go crazy!!! The shield will disappear but still can be used. However the Broadsword or the mace may have the chance to kill instantly, this applies to the Long range weapons also. Category:Warriors Category:Ancient Warriors Category:Ancient European Warriors Category:Defeated Warriors Category:Season 1 Category:Horse Warriors Category:Special Forces Units Category:Freedom Fighters